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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes extended-length work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour week continues as before.

The government insists that the extended shift is elective, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be used for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – now the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the reforms align national legislation with modern labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for declining overtime.

The measure complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees currently put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Data and National Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.